Pramaggiore - Narrative Form

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The opening scenes of the animated feature Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton and

Lee Unkrich 2003; fi g. 4.1) depict a devoted pair of clownfi sh named Marlin and

Coral. Marlin persuades Coral to lay their eggs in an underwater cave that is both

beautiful and dangerous. Its proximity to a drop-off makes the clownfi sh vulner-

able to the larger fi sh from deeper waters that prey on them. Sadly, a tragedy

occurs when an ocean predator consumes Coral along with the entire collection

65

4.1 Marlin and Dory navigate through a dangerous jellyfish colony in Finding Nemo.

One should not tell stories as straightline narratives.

There are so many other possibilities, and fi lm would

only enrich them.

Peter Greenaway

Narrative Form

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Chapter 4: Narrative Form66

of unhatched eggs, except for one, whom Marlin names Nemo. As Nemo grows

up, Marlin becomes an overprotective father, sure that, because one of his fi ns

is damaged, Nemo cannot survive without constant care. When Nemo rebels

and ventures out past the drop-off, he is captured by humans who transport him

to an aquarium in a dentist’s offi ce in Australia. The remainder of the fi lm is

devoted to Marlin’s quest to rescue Nemo from these dangerous humans.

The events that take place in the opening moments of the fi lm are critical to

the viewer’s understanding of the characters. In particular, Marlin’s fears about

the drop-off and his insistence that Nemo play it safe are motivated. That is,

Marlin’s behavior is shaped by his earlier experiences. Marlin was not born a

killjoy, taking pleasure in squelching everyone’s fun: to the contrary, in the

opening scenes with Coral he is ebullient and daring. The attack has taught

Marlin to be wary of the world, so, as a way of keeping him safe, he impresses

on his son that untold dangers lurk beyond the drop-off.

If the fi lmmakers had not chosen to present Marlin’s predicament in the

expos ition—the opening scenes of a fi lm, during which a great deal of informa-

tion about the characters and situation is imparted—then viewers might fi nd him

an unsympathetic character and might question why he won’t allow Nemo to

have any fun. This story is about Marlin learning to enjoy life again as much as

it is about Nemo discovering his own abilities; therefore it is important that

viewers connect emotionally with both father and son. One way to encourage

audiences to warm up to characters who have limitations and quirks is to use the

exposition to show that there is a reason for their idiosyncrasies. Another is to

imply subtly that a character has faced diffi culties in the past—in his or her

backstory, the story events that take place before the fi lm begins—and suggest

that those experiences continue to shape that character’s behavior. Choices

regarding how and when to present information contribute to the overall story-

telling framework of the fi lm. That organizing framework is called a fi lm’s

narrative form.

Becoming familiar with the role of narrative as a structuring device allows

viewers to grasp character change and development, to recognize parallels and

motifs and, most importantly, to synthesize these details to build an interpreta-

tion of a fi lm’s themes.

Although most feature fi lms are organized according to principles of narrative

form, there are other types of fi lms which are organized differently. Chapter 9

examines some alternatives to narrative fi ction fi lm. This chapter offers a defi ni-

tion of narrative and looks at some of the key concepts employed when analyz-

ing narrative form. It then goes on to examine the structure that most conven-

tional narrative fi lms take and some alternatives to that structure. The chapter

ends by looking at some of the perspectives from which a fi lm can be narrated,

or appear to be narrated.

Defi ning Narrative

A narrative is an account of a string of events occurring in space and time. Not

merely a cluster of random elements, a narrative presents an ordered series of

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67Defining Narrative

events connected by the logic of cause and effect. Narratives piece events

together in a linear fashion that clearly shows the audience the reasons for, and

the consequences of, character behavior. Marlin is overprotective because of his

heartache, and this in turn makes Nemo crave adventure. This logic of cause and

effect ties together character traits, goals, obstacles, and actions.

Narrative fi lms generally focus on human characters and their struggles.

Characters possess traits, face confl icts, perform actions, and undergo changes

that enable or hinder their pursuit of a specifi c goal. The goal may be concrete or

abstract, lofty or banal: in some cases it may be fi nding love; in others it may be

saving humanity or arriving safely at a destination. Russian narrative theorist

Tzvetlan Todorov argued that all narratives involve the disruption of a stable

situation, which makes restoration of equilibrium an important goal. Chances

are good that characters attain stability only after undergoing important changes:

for example, after reconsidering goals and the means of attaining them and fac-

ing down internal demons or external challenges.

Characters encounter obstacles to attaining goals: these obstacles arise from

within, from other characters, from non-human characters (in horror and science

fi ction), and from forces of nature. They may be concrete physical challenges

(scaling a mountain), the actions and desires of others (a lover’s rejection), or

internal psychological or emotional issues (fear of commitment). In some cases

the characters may not achieve the goal they are pursuing: events, or their own

failings, may conspire against them.

Many narrative fi lms involve characters overcoming obstacles on more than

one level. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Peter Jackson 2001, 2002, 2003) offers

an example. The primary obstacle the Fellowship faces is the physical challenge

posed by the Dark Lord Sauron and his Orcs, yet each character also faces inter-

nal challenges as the group moves toward its collective goal. Frodo, for example,

must resist the lure of the ring.

Filmmakers orchestrate story details in a systematic way to produce a mean-

ingful and enjoyable experience for the audience. They establish and explore

characters and their confl icts using the panoply of cinematic techniques availa-

ble, including dialogue, music, visual effects, locations, costumes, colors, and

editing. This chapter focuses specifi cally on the narrative choices available to

screenwriters and fi lm directors and helps readers to recognize the conventions

of classical narrative form as well as alternatives to those conventions. The next

section discusses how fi lmmakers often combine elements that do not exist in

the story world with their fi ctional narratives.

Framing the Fictional World: Diegetic and

Non-diegetic Elements

Narrative fi lms often include elements that exist outside the fi ctional world of the

story—such as the opening or closing credits, or background music. The implied

world of the story, including settings, characters, sounds, and events, is the

diegesis. Elements that exist outside the diegesis are called non-diegetic or

extradiegetic devices. The audience is aware of these non-diegetic components

of the fi lm, but the characters, of course, are not.

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4.2 The book device in The Royal Tenenbaums.

The process of making a feature fi lm begins with an

original or an adapted screenplay, written by a screenwriter,

based on fi ctional events or non-fi ction source material.

A screenplay that has not been commissioned—one that

a screenwriter submits for consideration—is called a spec

script. Screenplays usually go through a number of revisions,

modifi ed by script doctors, who are specialists in a particular

THE SCREENPLAY

area, such as dialogue. During pre-production, the director

adds information (numbering scenes, determining camera

placement, cuts, and sound cues) to produce the shooting

script, which is the day-to-day guide the director and

cinematographer use during production. After each day

of shooting, the script supervisor maintains a detailed log

of the scenes fi lmed that day.

Filmmakers use non-diegetic elements for several reasons: they may draw

attention to aspects of the narrative from a position outside the story, they com-

municate with the audience directly, and they engage viewers on an emotional level.

Most narrative fi lms tell a story by simply showing a sequence of actions, but

others include a narrator, who may or may not be one of the characters in the

fi lm. A non-diegetic narrator, one who is not a character in the story, may not

seem to have a vested interest in explaining events a certain way and thus may

appear to be objective. Non-diegetic narrators address the audience in Band of

Outsiders (Bande à part, Jean-Luc Godard 1964), Dogville (Lars Von Trier 2003),

and Inglourious Basterds.

A non-diegetic voice-over narrates The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson

2001). In the same fi lm, a non-diegetic visual device creates an analogy between

the narration and the act of reading stories aloud to children. A large printed

page opens new “chapters” of the fi lm (fi g. 4.2).

Narration by a character from the fi ctional world, such as Holly (Sissy Spacek)

in Badlands (Terrence Malick 1974) or Lovelace (Robin Williams) in Happy Feet

(George Miller 2006) is a diegetic element, even if the character narrates from a

point in time that is earlier or later than the events depicted. (A full treatment of

this diegetic technique appears in the discussion of character subjectivity later in

this chapter.)

Music may function as a diegetic or a non-diegetic element. Often fi lmmakers

use non-diegetic music (that is, music without a source in the story world) to

accompany action or romantic scenes.

The music communicates directly to

viewers on an emotional level, enhancing

the actions depicted.

Non-diegetic narration and music

accomplish several things: they frame the

diegesis (providing information from a

vantage point unavailable within the

story world), interrupt the diegesis (dis-

tancing viewers or creating humor), and

enhance the mood of the diegesis (rein-

forcing moments of danger or romance).

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69Defining Narrative

Within the Diegesis: Selecting and Organizing Events

Feature fi lms typically have a running time, or screen time of between 90 and

180 minutes. But the stories they tell rarely take place in that amount of time.

“Real time” fi lms such as Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), in which the events take

exactly as long as the fi lm’s running time to unfold, are rare exceptions to this

rule.

How do fi lmmakers tell stories that span entire lives in this short period of

time? Buck Henry, screenwriter of The Graduate (Mike Nichols 1967) and To Die

For (Gus Van Sant 1995), explains: “the secret of a fi lm script is compression”

(Peacock, p. 111). That is, fi lms do not depict every moment of their characters’

lives; in fact, they omit a great deal. Days, months, or even years may pass in the

blink of an eye, or during a fade-out.

Simply put, fi lmmakers choose to present certain events and leave others out.

This seemingly obvious principle of storytelling is so important to narrative form

that Russian literary theorists created two terms to describe the fact that a writer

(or, in this case, a screenwriter) transforms a complete, chronological story (the

fabula) into an abbreviated, reorganized version of events that plays out on

screen for the audience (the syuzhet).The syuzhet refers to the selection and ordering of the actions explicitly

presented on screen. The fabula is the chronological narrative, in its entirety, that

implicitly stands behind the events depicted. The fabula includes events that

take place during the span of time of the syuzhet that are implied but not overtly

represented. The fabula also incorporates a character’s backstory (a character’s

formative experiences before the beginning of the syuzhet). Some fi lm scholars

prefer the terms plot (syuzhet) and story (fabula). But, because viewers typically

use “plot” and “story” indiscriminately to mean “narrative,” these admittedly

unusual Russian terms are better suited to the precise terminology of fi lm

analysis.

The signifi cance of the difference between fabula and syuzhet is not simply

that events are left out. Instead, the important question is: what is the effect of

these choices? Does it change a viewer’s perception of a character or the fl ow of

action that certain events are represented while others are not?

The syuzhet entails more than simply eliminating events from the fabula—it

also involves re-ordering events. The syuzhet can begin at any point within the

fabula, including the end. Citizen Kane and The Prestige (Christopher Nolan

2006) begin at the end of the fabula and move backward in time. Filmmakers

may use flashbacks and flashforwards, scenes from the past or future that inter-

rupt the fi lm’s present tense, to rearrange the chronology of the fabula.

Repositioning events infl uences the way the audience understands them. In

Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur 1947), Jeff (Robert Mitchum) tells his fi ancée,

Ann (Rhonda Fleming), about his former life of crime in several long fl ashbacks.

Those fl ashbacks appear after the fi lm’s opening scenes have presented Jeff as

an ordinary man living in a small town. By manipulating the order of events—

showing his present life fi rst and then showing his past—the syuzhet encourages

viewers to sympathize with Jeff. They see him as an upstanding citizen before

they learn he once worked for a criminal.

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The fl ashbacks emphasize the fact that Jeff’s past intrudes into his current life.

The re-emergence of his past disrupts Jeff’s equilibrium, and he takes action to

prevent his former associates from coming back into his life. But no matter how

hard he tries, Jeff cannot escape the consequences of his past. In this example,

the screenwriter reorders the fabula in order to infl uence viewers’ engagement

with the main character. It also leads viewers to the central theme of the fi lm,

which is signifi ed by the title and underscored by the fl ashback structure. The

notion that Jeff cannot escape his criminal past marks this fi lm as a film noir.

Fabula events that are omitted from the syuzhet may have a strong bearing on

the way the audience interprets the narrative. In Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil

(1958), a late film noir, a criminal suspect fi nally confesses to a crime. Prior to

the confession, he had maintained his innocence, even though police captain

Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) had framed him for the crime. The confession is

not presented in the syuzhet but is mentioned in an aside to Mike Vargas (Charlton

Heston), another offi cial who opposes Quinlan and his corrupt methods. Oddly

enough, the confession vindicates Quinlan. True, he violates ethical principles

and breaks laws by framing suspects. Yet, after the suspect confesses, Quinlan’s

repeated claim that he only frames the guilty rings true.

What might have been the consequences of including the confession in the

syuzhet? Would giving that moment dramatic emphasis cause the audience to

admire Quinlan’s fl awed approach? By leaving the confession out of the syuzhet,

the fi lm balances the discovery of the truth with Quinlan’s violation of laws and

procedures. Quinlan is not applauded for having the right instincts about the sus-

pect. The tension between following procedures (associated with Vargas) and

doing whatever is necessary to apprehend criminals (Quinlan’s approach) is a

central confl ict in the fi lm. The decision to leave the confession out of the syuzhet

contributes to the ambiguous nature of the confl ict.

The syuzhet may also manipulate the frequency of events (how many times an

act occurs). A single fabula event may be depicted more than once, sometimes

from the perspective of several characters, as with Susan Alexander’s opera

debut in Citizen Kane. The fi lm presents the debut twice, once from Susan’s per-

spective and once from Jed Leland’s.

The distinction between the fabula and syuzhet makes clear that each event

represented in a fi lm has been selected and ordered systematically—there are no

accidents. The syuzhet may distill, condense, and expand on fabula events, giv-

ing writers and directors great latitude in portraying characters and events. The

syuzhet need not chronicle every moment in the fabula, and it usually empha-

sizes the importance of some moments relative to others. When analyzing a nar-

rative fi lm, take note of the fabula events that have been left out of the syuzhet,

changes in chronology, and events that may occur more than once; they often

reveal important aspects of structure, character, and theme.

Narrative Structure

The standard pattern that shapes narrative fi lms is the three-act structure. Act

One introduces characters, goals, and confl ict(s) and ends with a fi rst turning

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71Narrative Structure

point, which causes a shift to Act Two. A turning point, which may be signaled

through dialogue, setting, or other visual or sound techniques, represents a

moment when an important change has occurred that affects a character or situ-

ation. Generally, at this point the main character (the protagonist) modifi es the

methods by which she plans to attain her goals, or changes those goals altogether.

In Act Two, the protagonist meets obstacles, possibly arising from the actions of

another central fi gure who opposes her, called the antagonist. The confl icts

increase in number and complexity, leading to a major turning point, referred to

as the climax. Act Three presents the dénouement, a series of events that

resolves the confl icts that have arisen—not always happily. When the conclud-

ing moments of the fi lm tie up all the loose strands, leaving no unanswered ques-

tions, the fi lm is said to provide closure.

Film scholar Kristin Thompson has recently argued that both classical and

contemporary Hollywood fi lms actually exhibit a four-part structure (fi g. 4.3).

The parts, which are of roughly equal length, are demarcated by turning points

linked to character goals. The main difference between the three-act model and

Thompson’s four-part structure is that she locates a critical turning point at the

midway point—the “dead center” of the fi lm.

In the four-part structure, the introduction leads to an initial turning point,

which is followed by a complicating action. This leads in turn to the central turn-

ing point at the halfway mark. After that shift, a period of development takes

place; this is where the protagonist clearly struggles toward goals. That struggle

leads to the climax, followed by the resolution and epilogue.

At the beginning of a fi lm, audiences fi nd themselves thrust into a fi ctional

world of characters and actions they cannot fully understand. To help orient

viewers at the opening of a fi lm, fi lmmakers often impart a great deal of informa-

tion in a relatively short period of screen time. The very opening of the fi lm,

dense with narrative details, is called the exposition. The exposition brings view-

ers “up to speed” on place, time, characters, and circumstances. The expos ition

is not synonymous with the fi rst act, however. The fi rst act includes the exposi-

tion but generally is longer, because it also sets up the fi lm’s primary confl ict.

The exposition of Rear Window introduces the audience to a group of people

living in the New York apartment building where protagonist L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy

Stewart) lives. The cast of characters includes a dancer, a sculptor, a couple with

a dog, a composer, and some sunbathers. After panning across the courtyard,

taking note of these neighbors through Jeffries’s open window, the camera cuts

4.3 Three- and four-part narrative structures.

Three-Act Structure Four-Part Structure (Thompson)

Act One: Exposition leads to turning point

Act Two: Complications lead to climax

1. Exposition leads to turning point

2. Complicating action leads to major turning point at halfway mark

Act Three: Action leading to resolution

3. Development: struggle toward goal leads to climax

4. Epilogue

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to a large thermometer and then tracks

backward into Jeffries’s apartment. The

camera sweeps through the interior, as if

examining its contents with curiosity. In a

brief amount of screen time, Hitchcock

conveys a good deal of information:

Jeffries’s name (written on his leg cast),

his profession (adventure photographer),

his physical state (explained by the

photograph of an automobile accident),

and his ambivalence about romance (the

positive and negative photograph of a

glamorous woman).

Spectators may absorb some of this

information without even being aware of

doing so. This dialogue-free exposition—

Jeffries is asleep—lays the groundwork for

all the events that occur in the fi lm. It

introduces Jeffries’s physical predica-

ment, his voyeuristic tendencies, and the stifl ing summer temperatures which

bring people and their secrets out into the courtyard. Introducing details in the

exposition and exploiting them later is an example of the conscious placement

and repetition of information.

After noticing important details in the expos ition, scholars should be careful

to recognize when characters and their traits undergo important changes, and

how these changes correspond to the three- (or four-) act structure. Typically,

critical transitions between acts are marked by lines of dialogue, changes in set-

ting, or major events that suggest a shift in character or circumstance. In The

Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming 1939), Dorothy’s now legendary line “We’re not in

Kansas any more” draws attention to the dramatic shift in her circumstances at

the end of Act One, after the cyclone has carried her to the land of Oz. In V for

Vendetta (James McTeigue 2005), after Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) is

arrested, her captor shears her hair completely (fi g. 4.4). This physical transfor-

mation is a turning point that signifi es the beginning of a process of internal

change, as Evey rejects the authoritarian culture in which she lives and joins an

underground resistance movement.

Alternatives to Conventional Narrative Structure

Not all narrative fi lms conform to a three-act or four-part structure. Remaining

attentive to narrative, visual, and sound details that signal turning points makes

it possible to discern alternative narrative structures. Even in unconventional

narratives, turning points signal structural shifts.

In Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick 1987), a two-part structure is reinforced

by a change in setting and a parallel. An abrupt transition from training camp to

combat takes place when, after a fade, the fi lm moves the action from Parris

Island, South Carolina, to Da Nang, Vietnam. The geographical shift represents

4.4 A visible change in Evey’s physical form signals the beginning of her internal change in V for Vendetta.

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an important change in the protagonist’s goal: in the fi rst half of the fi lm, Joker

(Matthew Modine) must learn how to survive marine training camp both

mentally and physically. In the second, he must learn how to survive his tour of

duty in Vietnam. Several parallels signal the two-part structure: each segment

begins with a popular song and ends with a protracted scene of violent death.

Another variation on structure is the use of frame narration. This technique,

used in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (“Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari”; Robert

Wiene 1919), consists of a character who narrates an embedded tale to onscreen

or implied listeners. This allows for the creation of two distinct diegeses, and

there may be complicated interactions between the two. The narrator may or

may not be a character within the embedded tale, and may or may not appraise

the events with objectivity.

In Caligari, Francis (Friedrich Feher) tells a rapt listener the fantastic tale of

the mysterious Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss), a man who travels with a somnam-

bulist (sleepwalker), whose mind he controls. Under Caligari’s spell the sleep-

walker, Cesare (Conrad Veidt), terrorizes an entire town, killing Francis’s best

friend and kidnapping his fi ancée. As Francis narrates this bizarre story, the

embedded tale unfolds in fl ashbacks. The fi lm’s shocking conclusion returns to

the circumstances of Francis’s narration and casts doubt on his reliability: he is

a paranoid madman living in a mental institution. Caligari is actually the bene-

volent hospital director.

Another important alternative is the episodic narrative. In episodic narra-

tives, events are not tightly connected in a cause-and-effect sequence and char-

acters do not focus on a single goal. Character actions may appear to be unmoti-

vated, with hours or days unfolding in a spontaneous fl ow, and the movie may

seem to digress. These fi lms are sometimes referred to as “a day in the life of …,”

which suggests the way they equalize the importance of many events, rather

than singling out dramatic turning points and climaxes. An episodic structure

emphasizes the repetition of everyday events rather than the dramatic accu-4.5 A ride to nowhere: the carnival centrifuge in The 400 Blows.

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mulation of tension toward a moment of crisis. Some episodic narratives

conclude without resolving the confl icts; if this is the case, the fi lm is said to be

open-ended.

The 400 Blows (“Les Quatre Cents Coups ”; François Truffaut 1959) is an epi-

sodic fi lm that revolves around the daily experiences of a young boy named

Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud). The boy’s daily routine is elaborated in

scenes depicting him at school, at home, and with friends. Although a confl ict

exists between Antoine and his parents, Antoine’s goals are unclear.

Instead of setting up the characters and confl icts, the fi lm’s exposition estab-

lishes a state of mind. It shows schoolboys passing around a provocative calen-

dar of women, establishing Antoine’s age—somewhere within the traumatic

stage of life known as puberty—and his boredom and restlessness at school. The

fi lm chronicles Antoine’s daily life without highlighting important events. He

goes to school, he does chores at home, he runs errands, overhears a conversa-

tion about the horrors of childbirth, and gets ready for bed. The next day he does

not go to school, an obvious break in his routine that acts as a turning point,

although the reasons for it are obscure. Antoine wanders aimlessly with his

friend René (Patrick Auffray), riding a carnival centrifuge, seeing a fi lm, and play-

ing pinball (fi g. 4.5).

Narrative Structure in StagecoachJohn Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) is an example of a fi lm with a conventional

narrative structure. Based on “Stage to Lordsburg,” an Ernest Haycox short

story published in Collier’s magazine in 1937, the fi lm’s three-act structure

is marked by events and shifts in geographical setting. The fi lm follows a

group of people traveling by stagecoach from the town of Tonto to Lords-

burg. The syuzhet contains several lines of action (or plotlines) that con-

verge. Many conventional narrative fi lms combine two narrative paths, with

one involving romance and the other concerned with a professional goal, a

civic duty, or the attainment of a long-held dream. Here, the two lines of

action that assume prominence are the stagecoach journey and Ringo Kid’s

quest for revenge.

The exposition introduces eight residents of Tonto as they prepare for

the journey. Director John Ford makes it clear that each one of this diverse

group of stagecoach passengers has an individual motivation for the trip.

Dallas (Claire Trevor) is a prostitute who has been expelled from Tonto by

the self-righteous Law and Order League. The pregnant Lucy Mallory (Lou-

ise Platt) intends to join her husband, a cavalry soldier, while Gatewood

(Berton Churchill), a banker, has stolen money from his bank and is using

the trip to make his getaway. The gambler Hatfi eld (John Carradine) has a

personal reason for making the trip: his chivalric code demands that he go

along to protect Lucy Mallory. Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell), an amiable

drunkard, has been evicted by his landlady.

TECHNIQUES IN PRACTICE

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Although each character has a specifi c motivation for going, they all

share the goal of reaching Lordsburg. The central confl ict facing the travel-

ers emerges when a cavalry report comes in that Geronimo has been active

in the area. The threat of hostile Indians—a stereotype and staple of the

classical Western—represents an external obstacle to the achievement of

that goal.

The fi rst act concludes with an important turning point. Ringo Kid fl ags

the stagecoach down after it has left Tonto. He wants to ride to Lordsburg

to fi nd the Plummer brothers and avenge the deaths of his brother and

father. Although he appears later than the other characters, Ringo’s desire

for revenge becomes a central line of action. (In fact, Sheriff Curly Wilcox

anticipated Ringo’s appearance early in the fi rst act, when he tells coach

driver Buck that, because Ringo broke out of jail and might be looking for

the Plummers, the Sheriff must accompany the stage.) Curly, who sympa-

thizes with Ringo because he knew his father, takes Ringo into “custody.”

Ringo’s goal is clear, and his obstacles are external (Sheriff Curly, the Plum-

mer brothers, the law). Goals and confl icts are well established as the stage

heads toward Dry Fork, the fi rst stop on the journey.

The second act involves complications within both lines of action. The

geographical journey west is complicated by the Indian threat and clashes

among the travelers. At the fi rst stop in Dry Fork, Lucy Mallory, Hatfi eld,

and Gatewood make their distaste for Dallas apparent. Furthermore, the

travelers are divided as to whether or not they should forge ahead to Lords-

burg, given the threat of attack. They travel to Apache Wells, where, with

the help of Doc Boone and Dallas, Lucy Mallory gives birth. The baby’s

arrival is an added complication, but the event forces Ringo to acknowledge

his feelings for Dallas. After leaving Apache Wells, the stagecoach must ford

a river because Geronimo and his men have ransacked the next town, Lee’s

Ferry. Reminding them of their vulnerability, the event

tests their physical ability and builds tension around the

increased possibility of an attack.

Throughout the second act, Ringo encounters an inter-

nal obstacle because he develops romantic feelings for

Dallas. Their relationship threatens to interfere with his

plan for revenge and introduces suspense: can Ringo still

carry out his plans, or will he run away with Dallas? If

he goes after the Plummers and survives, what kind of

future could Ringo and Dallas have if he is arrested?

The climax occurs when Geronimo attacks the stage-

coach between Lee’s Ferry and Lordsburg (fi g. 4.6). The

passengers ward off the Indians just long enough for the

cavalry to rescue them. This resolves the line of action

associated with the stagecoach journey: the dénouement

traces the arrival of the stage in Lordsburg as various

characters meet their fates. Hatfi eld has been killed in the

4.6 The climax of Stagecoach: Geronimo’s attack.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 75 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


While out in the city, Antoine sees his mother kissing a stranger, a shocking

moment whose signifi cance is not immediately clear. Nothing in Antoine’s life

changes overtly because of this act, though a conventionally structured fi lm

might emphasize this traumatic moment as an important turning point through

camera or sound techniques, which Truffaut avoids. In a conversation shortly

afterward, Mme. Doinel speaks to Antoine about keeping secrets from his father,

and offers him money should he do well in school. He labors over an essay but

is accused of plagiarism and suspended. Antoine moves into René’s apartment

and the boys’ high jinks ultimately land Antoine in jail.

Although cause-and-effect relations are in evidence in this sequence of

events—Antoine’s misbehavior has consequences—the protagonist’s motiva-

tions and goals are not clear. He is inarticulate and engages in bad behavior

without a specifi c target; when he does have a target, it seems inappropriate. For

4.7 (left) Gatewood is arrested near the end of Stagecoach: justice is served.

4.8 (right) Ringo and Dallas head for the border, providing closure.

attack, Lucy and her baby will be reunited with her husband, and Gatewood

is arrested (fi g. 4.7). But director John Ford defers the climax of the second

line of action, which involves Ringo’s revenge. In Lordsburg, Ringo faces

down the Plummers and kills them. The conclusion offers closure on all lev-

els: Ringo exacts his revenge, and then he and Dallas (with the help of Doc

Boone and Sheriff Curly) escape to his ranch in Mexico (fi g. 4.8).

Stagecoach may be examined in terms of Thompson’s four-part structure.

The primary difference lies in the analysis of Act Two. After the exposition,

the fi rst turning point (Ringo’s arrival) signals the start of the complicating

action for both lines of action. What event marks the major turning point

halfway through the fi lm? What goals do the characters dedicate themselves

to achieving after that turning point, in the section Thompson calls develop-

ment? How are the lines of action resolved?

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77Variations on Narrative Conventions: Beyond Structure

example, he steals a typewriter from his father’s workplace, even though his

father has played a benign and positive role in his life.

Sent to an observation center for juvenile delinquents, Antoine opens up to

the psychologist, revealing an underlying emotional confl ict that explains, in

retrospect, much of his anti-social behavior. His parents married because

his mother was pregnant, and Antoine learned from his grandmother that his

mother wanted to have an abortion. When Antoine defi es the family code of

secrecy and writes a letter home that contains the truth about the kiss he wit-

nessed, his mother visits him and informs him that he will be sent to Labor

Detention (a boot camp). Antoine runs away, but offi cials pursue him. At the

fi lm’s conclusion, Antoine fi nds himself at the beach, making an earlier line of

dialogue signifi cant in retrospect. Antoine had told René he would like to join the

navy so he could see the ocean. Another case where dialogue is signifi cant only

in retrospect is the conversation Antoine overhears about childbirth.

The 400 Blows defi es conventional narrative form in a number of ways. The

fi lm focuses on Antoine’s relationships rather than his actions. Scenes do not

build confl ict, but defuse it. Antoine does not respond to the illicit kiss he wit-

nesses, but avoids the matter.

Antoine’s carnival ride suggests the cyclical character of Antoine’s life: little

forward progress is made. When he fi nally does name the confl ict within his fam-

ily, the information only retrospectively explains the tension between Antoine

and his mother. Finally, while the events of the conclusion are clear—his parents

assert their authority to send him away and Antoine escapes—their signifi cance

is not. Antoine resists the imposition of parental and governmental authority and

runs away. At the end of the fi lm, his future is uncertain (see fi g. 5.14).

Variations on Narrative Conventions: Beyond Structure

The two-part, frame/embedded tale, and episodic structures of Full Metal Jacket,

Dr. Caligari, and The 400 Blows offer alternatives to standard narrative construc-

tion. But there are a number of other ways fi lms resist and rewrite the rules of

narrative.

The principles of narrative that govern most commercial feature fi lms emerged

from the practices and preferences of Hollywood fi lmmakers in the early part of

the twentieth century. Commercial Hollywood studios established a formula for

making popular fi lms and refi ned these rules over several decades. The “rules”

for classical Hollywood narrative fi lm include:

• Clarity. Viewers should not be confused about setting, time, events, or

character motivations.

• Unity. Connections between cause and effect must be direct and complete.

• Characters. They should invite viewer identifi cation, be active, and seek

goals.

• Closure. Third acts and epilogues should tie up loose ends and answer

all questions.

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• “Unobtrusive craftsmanship” (Thompson 1991, p. 11). Stories are told in a

manner that draws viewers into the diegesis and does not call attention to

the storytelling process.

A number of narrative fi lmmaking traditions have modifi ed or rejected the

rules of the dominant Hollywood method of storytelling. Art fi lms, independent

fi lms, non-Western fi lms, and unconventional Hollywood fi lms represent alter-

natives to the standard form, to the delight of many and the dismay of others.

The ways that they challenge convention are suggested below. Any fi lm may

exhibit one or more of these features, and may do so in a subtle or dramatic way.

• Lack of clarity. Multiple, confl icting lines of action, inconsistent characters,

extreme degree of character subjectivity. Examples: Citizen Kane, The

Conversation, Mystery Train, Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa 1950), Run Lola

Run, The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick 1998), Fight Club (Fincher 1998),

Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly 2001), I’m Not There (Todd Haynes 2007)

• Lack of unity. Broken chain of cause and effect. Examples: Last Year at

Marienbad, Memento, Mulholland Drive (David Lynch 2001), Reservoir Dogs

(Quentin Tarantino 1992)

• Open-endedness. Questions are left unanswered or confl icts unresolved.

Examples: The 400 Blows, L’avventura (“The Adventure”; Michelangelo

Anton ioni 1960), The Italian Job (Peter Collinson 1969), Blow-Up, The Break-

Up (Peyton Reed 2006), White Ribbon (Michael Haneke 2009)

• Unconventional characterizations.

– Audience is distanced from characters rather than invited to identify.

Examples: Badlands, The Conversation, Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch 1996);

Persona (Ingmar Bergman 1966), There Will Be Blood

– Characters contemplate or talk about action rather than taking action.

Examples: Cleo from 5 to 7, My Dinner with André (Louis Malle 1981),

Stranger than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch 1983), A Scanner Darkly (Richard

Linklater 2006)

– Character goals are unclear. Examples: The Graduate, The 400 Blows

– Narrators may be unreliable. Examples: Dr. Caligari, Rashômon, The Usual

Suspects

• Intrusions, direct address to the audience and other devices call attention

to narrative as a process. Examples: American Splendor (Shari Springer

Berman and Robert Pulcini 2003), Just Another Girl on the IRT (Leslie Harris

1993), The Nasty Girl (“Das schreckliche Mädchen”; Paul Verhoeven 1990),

Dogville, Persona (Ingmar Bergman 1966), The Usual Suspects, Natural

Born Killers (Oliver Stone 1994), Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Foster 2006),

Synechdoche, New York

Perspective and Meaning

A narrator can play a crucial role in novels and short stories. By establishing

a position or angle of vision on the story events—a perspective—the

narrator determines whether the reader has access to the same information that

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 78 08/11/2010 3:31 PM

79Perspective and Meaning

characters possess. Stories narrated in the first person use the pronoun “I” and

limit readers to a single character’s knowledge and understanding of events.

Third-person narration conveys the story from a position outside any single

character’s experiences. In literature, the use of “he” and “she” signals the

narrator’s third-person perspective. A third-person narration can be relatively

limited—where the reader’s access to information is limited to that of a few char-

acters—or omniscient (“all-knowing”), where the reader has more information

than any character .

Films treat narration differently. Although characters occasionally address the

audience using the fi rst person “I” in a voice-over, fi lms rarely use a fi rst-per-

son narration throughout an entire fi lm. Cloverfield (Matt Reeves 2008) experi-

mented with a postmodern take on fi rst-person narration. The events in this

fi lm are told almost entirely from the perspective of an obsessive videographer

who can’t seem to put down his camera, even while reptilian beasts from outer

space decimate New York (fi g. 4.9). The camera literally points at everything

the protagonist sees, but the viewer’s inability to see the main character inhibits

identifi cation.

Most fi lms employ a system of restricted narration, which conveys external

events as well as the knowledge, thoughts, and feelings of one or two major

characters without the intervention of an explicit narrator. The story seems to

unfold rather than to be narrated to the audience. Viewers experience the story

from the perspective(s) of a few major characters. They become aligned with

those characters because the fi lm imparts the information, knowledge, and

experi ences that those characters have.

Within an overall framework of restricted narration, directors sometimes pro-

vide viewers with information that main characters do not possess. These selec-

tive moments of omniscience—where viewers gain more knowledge than major

characters—usually occur in scenes that do not include the protagonist(s).

Viewers consider the story details presented in such scenes as well as the signifi -

cance of the uneven distribution of information among the characters in their

understanding of the narrative.

Filmmakers may shift away from

restricted narration to omniscience within

a fi lm for several reasons: to explain story

events of which the character is unaware,

to align viewers with other important

characters, and to create suspense .

The fact that the audience has more

information than Alicia Huberman (Ingrid

Bergman) and T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) in

Notorious (1946) is critical to building the

suspense of the fi lm’s second half. Over

the course of several scenes, viewers learn

that Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) and

Mrs. Sebastian (Madame Konstantin)—

Alicia’s husband and mother-in-law and

the targets of her investigation—have dis-

4.9 First-person camerawork in Cloverfield.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 79 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


covered that Alicia is a government

agent and have begun poisoning her

(fi g. 4.10). Neither Alicia nor Devlin

(her supervisor and love interest) sus-

pects her cover has been blown, so

they are unaware of any danger. The

audience may despair of Alicia mak-

ing it out alive and wonder whether

Devlin will catch on in time to save

her. If Hitchcock had limited the

viewer to Alicia’s perspective, the

audience would be just as unaware of

the danger as she is and the suspense

would have been eliminated.

Furthermore, by providing the audi-

ence with more information than his

two protag onists possess, Hitchcock

ties the spy and the romance plotlines

together. Viewers are likely to become

frustrated when the lovers clash over

Alicia’s illness, which affects their

relationship as well as their mission. Devlin misinterprets Alicia’s sickness as a

hangover, thinking she has reverted to her old drinking ways. Alicia responds

rebelliously; she encourages him in his misperception, angry that he refuses to

see that she has changed. Because the omniscient perspective makes the audi-

ence aware of the actual jeopardy that Alicia faces, it casts a different light on

Devlin’s treatment of Alicia. Not only is he petty and unfair, but his inability to

control his personal feelings seems likely to cost Alicia her life. By manipulating

perspective, Hitchcock lays the emotional groundwork that prepares the audi-

ence for Devlin’s fi nal confrontation with the Sebastians and his reconciliation

with Alicia (fi g. 4.11).

Character Subjectivity

“Point of view” is a term sometimes used in a literary context to describe the

overall system of narration in a novel, poem, or short story. But in fi lm, the term

designates a very specifi c and limited use of camera to indicate perspective. A

point-of-view shot occurs when the audience temporarily shares the visual per-

spective of a character or a group of characters. Simply put, the camera points in

the direction that the character looks, simulating her fi eld of vision.

Point-of-view shots do not necessarily result in the audience understanding or

sympathizing with a character. Emotional engagement may result from a simple

point-of-view shot, but usually a deeper connection is accomplished through a

pattern of shots or a combination of narrative, visual, and sound elements.

Point-of-view shots can, but don’t always, align viewers with characters.

They help to explain the way characters experience the world, validate characters’

interpretations of events, and provide information about motivation. In Broken

4.10 A moment of omniscience: Alex and Mrs. Sebastian discuss Alicia in Notorious.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 80 08/11/2010 3:31 PM

81Perspective and Meaning

Blossoms (D.W. Griffi th 1919), shots from

the point of view of Lucy (Lillian Gish)

communicate the young girl’s fear of men.

The camera adopts the girl’s point of view

when she is about to be kissed by Cheng

(Richard Barthelmess), who loves her and

has saved her life, but Lucy nevertheless

rejects him. The reason becomes clear later,

when the camera once again adopts Lucy’s

point of view as her abusive father, Battling

(Donald Crisp), who has repeatedly beaten

her, approaches her in a sexually menacing

manner. In addition to point-of-view shots,

the director uses the actors and setting to

create a physical parallel between the two

men (fi gs. 4.12, 4.13), thus suggesting that

Lucy’s fear of Cheng is the result of years of

parental abuse.

Diegetic sound techniques such as voice-

over narration or a character’s direct address to the camera can be used to place

audiences more fi rmly within a character’s subjectivity. Voice-overs, when char-

acters step outside the fl ow of events to talk to themselves, to an implied listener,

or to the audience, expose audiences to a character’s thoughts. Voice-overs are

a distinctive characteristic of film noir, and are featured in The Big Sleep (Howard

Hawks 1946) and Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles 1947). Voice-overs allow

characters to refl ect back on their lives in Badlands, Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese

1990), and Fight Club.

In Just Another Girl on the IRT, Chantel (Ariyan Johnson 1992) tells the

4.11 Devlin rescues Alicia in Notorious.

4.12 (left) Battling approaches Lucy in Broken Blossoms.

4.13 (right) Cheng approaching Lucy in Broken Blossoms visually recalls the earlier scene.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 81 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


Noticing Shifts in Narration

Some fi lms, such as Hitchcock’s Psycho, contain signifi cant shifts in nar-

ration. These shifts do not necessarily move in a single direction, from re-

stricted to omniscient or vice versa. Throughout a fi lm like Psycho, moments

of omniscience may reveal an important piece of information, after which

the narration will return to a restricted level.

Psycho’s early scenes focus on Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), her relation-

ship with Sam (John Gavin), and her theft of $40,000 from her employer.

Marion’s importance as a character is reinforced when she encounters a

Highway Patrol Offi cer. The scene, composed of several point-of-view shots,

emphasizes that the fi lm is primarily concerned with Marion’s thoughts and

actions. In fact, in the scene where Marion leaves Phoenix, Hitchcock allows

viewers to share Marion’s subjectivity, as her imagined thoughts of what her

co-workers and Sam will say when they learn of her perfi dy play out inside

her head, and on the soundtrack.

Viewers soon learn that, had Hitchcock continued to employ this level of

restricted narration, which constrains our knowledge to what Marion thinks

and does, we would no longer be engaged with the fi lm at all, since Marion

is murdered quite early on. (This shocked audiences at the time of Psycho’s

TECHNIQUES IN PRACTICE

4.14 (above left) Norman spies on Marion in Psycho.

4.15 (above right) A point-of-view shot reveals what Norman sees.

4.16 (below left) Marion’s car slowly sinks, seen from Norman’s point of view.

4.17 (below right) A close-up of Norman watching anxiously.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 82 08/11/2010 3:31 PM

83

release; rare is the fi lm in which the protagonist is killed, much less a third

of the way into the fi lm).

Although Marion’s death is quite shocking, the shift to a more omniscient

narration that allows viewers to continue to share in the story line occurs

several scenes before the infamous shower scene where Marion dies. In

fact, the camera begins to acknowledge Norman Bates’s (Anthony Perkins)

point of view in scenes where Marion does not appear. When Norman reads

Marion’s pseudonym in the hotel register, the audience shares his point of

view and understands that Norman knows Marion lied to him. When Nor-

man spies on Marion as she undresses, looking through a hole in the wall,

the audience also shares his point of view (fi gs. 4.14 and 4.15).

After Marion’s death, when Norman hides the evidence, point of view

shots may evoke audience sympathy for him. The scene alternates between

point of view shots that align the audience with Norman as he watches

Marion’s car stubbornly refusing to sink in the pond (fi g. 4.16) and close ups

of Norman, at fi rst worried (fi g. 4.17) and then, when the car fi nally goes

under, relieved.

In this section of the fi lm, the audience is treated to a restricted narration

that limits our knowledge of events to what Norman experiences. However,

the remainder of the fi lm moves toward greater omniscience and departs

from this exclusive focus on Norman to incorporate the thoughts and actions

of Sam, Lila (Vera Miles), Marion’s sister who has come to investigate

her disappearance, and Mr. Arbogast (Martin Balsalm), a private investiga-

tor. By this point, the fi lm’s shifting narration has encouraged viewers to

accept some dramatic shifts in character alignment from Marion, to Norman,

to Lila.

To close the fi lm with a twist, Hitchcock makes masterful use of a narra-

tion that may seem fully omniscient, but in fact is not. He prevents the audi-

ence from learning one critical aspect of Norman’s story—the true nature of

his relationship with his mother—until the end of the fi lm.

Perspective and Meaning

audience in no uncertain terms who she is and what she stands for,

speaking directly to the camera as she would to one of her friends

(fi g. 4.18). The direct address also serves a thematic purpose,

because Chantel wants to tell her story in order to counteract the

culture’s stereotyped images of young African-American women.

Sound may also align viewers with a character at a less conscious

level than point-of-view shots. In the opening shot of The

Conversation, viewers hear odd, scrambled sounds that do not cor-

respond to the images in front of them, which depict a crowd in San

Francisco’s Union Square. Several moments into the scene, it

becomes clear that the sounds are distortions produced by recording

equipment. They are diegetic sounds, but they are heard only by the

characters taping the conversation of two characters in the square.

4.18 Chantel addresses the audience directly in Just Another Girl on the IRT.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 83 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


Truly inventive fi lmmakers like John Waters can come up with unusual ways

of connecting audiences with a character’s subjectivity, When Polyester (1981)

was released in theaters, spectators were given an Odorama card. At designated

moments during the fi lm, they could scratch off part of the card and experience

the fragrant and foul aromas encountered by the fi lm’s protagonist, Francine

Fishpaw (Divine), who suffers from having a too-keen sense of smell. Beyond its

sheer fun and novelty, this device asks the fi lm spectator to use more than

merely two senses (sight and hearing).

Figure 4.19 summarizes the elements of narrative form covered in this chapter.

Like all narrative art forms, narrative fi lms depend on characters, confl icts, and

cause-and-effect logic. Unlike stories, novels and plays, fi lms uniquely depend

on sound and visual elements to establish place and time, develop characters,

suggest ideas, and create mood. The next chapter examines the integrated pro-

gram of visual design that determines the overall “look” of a fi lm, a complex

element of cinema art referred to as mise en scène.

Summary

• The diegesis consists of the world of the story. Non-diegetic elements

allow the fi lmmaker to communicate with the audience directly, rather

than through characters or other aspects of the fi ctional world.

• The distinction between the syuzhet and the fabula is critical for

understanding the signifi cance of the order and selection of events.

The syuzhet contains all represented events whereas the fabula consists

of a complete and chronological accounting of all represented and

implied events.

• Many narrative fi lms conform to a three-act or four-part structure.

Alternatives to this model include two-part structures, frame/embedded

tale, and episodic narratives .

• Some fi lms adopt, and others discard, conventions of narrative form,

such as unity, clarity, sympathetic, action-oriented characters, closure,

and unobtrusive craftsmanship .

Dramatic structure

Restricted, omniscient, or a combination

4.19 Narrative Form.

Elements of narrative Characters, actions, time, place, causality

Selection and ordering of narrative elements

Presentation of the fi ctional world

Syuzhet: events selected, arranged, and presented on screen; fabula: all events that explicitly and implicitly underlie the syuzhet, in chronological order

Diegetic: part of the implied story world; non-diegetic: exists outside story world

Narration

Three-act, four-part, frame/embedded, episodicStructure

Omniscient, restricted, subjective

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 84 08/11/2010 3:31 PM

85Analyzing Narrative Structure

• Most narrative fi lms use restricted narration, but may shift to omniscient

narration at key moments. When viewers know more than the characters

do about an event, that knowledge affects their response to the character

and may generate suspense.

• Point-of-view shots may or may not align viewers with characters. They

may encourage viewers to understand and sympathize with characters,

as do character voice-overs and direct address (both diegetic elements).

Works ConsultedBarbarow, George. “Rashômon and the Fifth Witness,” in “Rashômon”: Akira Kurosawa, Director.

New Brunswick and London: Rutgers University Press, 1987, pp. 145–8.

Buscombe, Edward. Stagecoach. London: British Film Institute, 1992.

Gras, Vernon and Marguerite, eds. Interviews: Peter Greenaway. Jackson, MI: University of

Mississippi Press, 2000.

Peacock, Richard. The Art of Moviemaking: Script to Screen. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2001.

Richie, Donald, ed. “Rashômon”: Akira Kurosawa, Director. New Brunswick and London:

Rutgers University Press, 1987.

Richie, Donald, ed. Focus on “Rashômon”. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1972.

Thompson, Kristin. Storytelling in the New Hollywood. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Thompson, Kristin. Storytelling in Film and Television. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Zunser, Jesse. Review of Rashômon, in Focus on “Rashômon.” Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall,

1972, pp. 37–8.

Analyzing Narrative Structure

The essay below analyzes narrative form in Slumdog Millionaire (Danny

Boyle and Loveleen Tandan 2008). According to the author, even though

Slumdog was adapted from the novel Q&A by Indian writer Vikas Swaroop,

was set in Mumbai, and is organized by a fl ashback structure, its narrative

system conforms to that of a traditional Hollywood fi lm.

Before beginning any type of writing project, it’s a good idea to make an

outline. An outline is a blueprint: it contains your main idea and lays out a

logical progression for the ideas that support that main point. Use this proc-

ess to begin to sketch out specifi c details from the fi lm to use as examples to

illustrate and develop your claims. Remain fl exible to new ideas at this stage

of the process: you may need to reconsider, eliminate, or reorder your ideas

and examples to achieve clarity and coherence.

The outline below identifi es the thesis statement and establishes this writ-

er’s organizational logic. Be aware that there is no set formula for organizing

an essay: in fact, writers often outline more than one approach and then

eliminate those that fail to come together. The structure of an essay depends

upon what the writer believes to be the most important assertions; how

she connects those ideas to details from the fi lm (and to other concepts);

and how she organizes sentences and paragraphs so that each claim is fully

developed. An essay should build a meaningful argument, not simply list

loosely connected observations about the fi lm.

FILM ANALYSIS

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 85 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


Thesis: Slumdog Millionaire appears to depart from the conventions of nar-

rative cinema because of its pronounced use of fl ashbacks and its Indian

characters and setting. But in fact, the fi lm obeys fairly strictly the conven-

tions of the classical Hollywood model in terms of its structure, characters,

and plot line.

Outline

I. Flashback Structure

A. Slumdog is composed of a frame story (the game show) and an embedded

tale (Jamal’s life story), which unfolds through numerous flashbacks. The

film appears to possess a non-traditional structure, similar to that of Citi-

zen Kane and Rashômon—films that use flashbacks to challenge classical

narrative conventions.

B. The syuzhet reorders the chronological events of the fabula by alternating

past and present. Yet the flashbacks follow a clear chronology. Also, each

flashback is motivated by and, in turn, explains events in the frame story.

C. Flashbacks can disrupt the viewer’s sense of sequence and cause and

effect (use quote from film scholar to support this point). The film does

not exploit the potential disruptiveness of flashbacks.

D. The primary purpose of the flashbacks is to present Jamal’s life story,

creating tight connections between cause and effect, which is associated

with classical Hollywood storytelling. The film differs from Citizen Kane

and Rashômon because they use flashbacks to introduce ambiguity and

uncertainty.

II. Characters and Setting

A. Identify the three main characters: Jamal, Salim, and Latika.

B. Define characters in classical films: goal seeking and oriented toward tak-

ing action.

C. Jamal, as the main character, pursues specific goals and has an action

orientation.

1. He seeks to escape his slumdog youth—which Boyle visually repre-

sents as the dead-end quality of the slums themselves, and the way

some people are able to move through and out of the slums in cars or

on trains.

2. He seeks to reunite with Latika, which is the reason he goes on the

game show in the first place; she is an avid fan.

III. Strong Closure and Double Plot Lines

A. Like classical films, Slumdog has strong closure and two plot lines.

B. The use of the deadline for the climax is a feature of classical cinema.

C. One classical plotline involves heterosexual romance: Jamal reunites with

Latika.

D. The other classical plotline is related to work, war, a quest or mission:

Jamal wins the prize on the game show.

E. The film has strong closure, much more so than the two films used as

comparison/contrast.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 86 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


As you read the essay below, notice how it follows the outline, transforming

numbered sections into carefully structured supporting arguments.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008), a modestly budgeted $15 million British pro-

duction, nearly became a straight to DVD release after Warner Brothers’

Studios, which owned the distribution rights, expressed serious doubts

about its commercial potential. Released theatrically by Fox Searchlight and

Warner Brothers, the fi lm achieved box offi ce success, taking in more than

$150 million, and earned high critical praise, garnering four Golden Globes,

seven BAFTA awards, and eight Academy Awards. With a screenplay adapt-

ed from the novel Q&A by Vikus Swarup about a poor, uneducated young

man from the slums of Mumbai who becomes a contestant on a television

game show, the fi lm’s fl ashback-riddled narrative seems to draw heavily

upon the popular song and dance-driven Hindi cinema (also referred to as

Bollywood), although it is translated through the kinetically charged visual

style of director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting [1996], 28 Days Later [2002],

Sunshine [2007]). In fact, Boyle used several Bollywood fi lms as models

(Kumar). A close analysis of Slumdog Millionaire’s narrative elements—in

particular, its numerous fl ashbacks, and its Indian characters, plot, and cul-

tural milieu—reveals a highly conventional treatment of chronology, char-

acter, and plot that conforms to classical Hollywood narrative patterns. Film

scholar David Bordwell has argued “[t]he classical tradition has become a

default framework for international cinematic expression, a point of depar-

ture for nearly every fi lmmaker” (Bordwell 2006, p. 12) and Slumdog Mil-

lionaire is no exception.

What appears to be Slumdog Millionaire’s most striking departure from

standard cinematic storytelling practices is its extensive use of fl ashbacks.

Hollywood narratives typically present stories through a three-act structure

enacted in the present tense, where each act offers a clear beginning, middle,

and end. In contrast, Slumdog seems to dwell on the past; the syuzhet re-

orders the chronological story (the fabula) by continually moving back and

forth between the present and the past. Like the novel Q&A, from which it

was adapted, Slumdog is organized by a frame story depicting Jamal Malik’s

(Dev Patel) participation in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and his tempo-

rary detention by the police on suspicion of cheating. This frame story is

continually interrupted by fl ashback sequences relating his harrowing child-

hood experiences. This frame story and embedded tale structure resembles

well known fi lms such as Citizen Kane and Rashômon, which challenge the

classical storytelling structures through multiple fl ashbacks that introduce

ambiguity and provide contradictory information.

Boyle employs fl ashbacks that reveal the hardships Jamal and his brother

Salim (Sarfaraz Khan) faced as orphans after their mother is killed during

anti-Muslim riots. Unlike the fl ashbacks in Citizen Kane and Rashômon,

these do not introduce contradictions or ambiguity. Instead, they are clear-

ly motivated and explained by the frame story of the game show. After

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each question is posed to Jamal—by both

the game show host Prem Kapur (Anil

Kapoor) and the police who interrogate him

because they suspect him of cheating—he

remembers experiences that provide the in-

formation he needs to answer the question

(fi g. 4.20)

The tight cause-and-effect logic under-

lying the use of fl ashbacks undercuts the

potential narrative disruptiveness of the

fl ashbacks. Maureen Turim writes that

fl ashbacks are “manipulations of narrative temporality” (p. 16) that can be

used to call attention to the fabricated nature of storytelling and to point to

the potentially unreliable aspects of memory, as is the case with fl ashbacks

in Citizen Kane and Rashômon. On the other hand, Turim notes, directo-

rial choices can “naturalize these temporal manipulations, such as locating

[fl ashbacks] in the psyche or the storytelling capacity of a character within

the fi ction” (Turim, p. 16). This is precisely the case in Slumdog Millionaire:

Jamal’s fl ashbacks are clearly located within his psyche. The use of a wipe

as a visual transition into his memories confi rms the fact that the fl ashback

sequences are located in Jamal’s mind: Jamal’s face and the past events

briefl y share the same frame (fi g. 4.21) The audience has no reason to doubt

the veracity of his memories or experience the fl ashbacks as a disruption to

the fl ow of the frame story. His memories have the authority of fact. Moreo-

ver, they fully explain the confl ict in the frame story: the dispute over his

ability to answer the questions without resorting to cheating.

This close linkage between the past and the present—the fact that Jamal’s

early years eventually explain everything about his presence on the televi-

sion show and his ability to answer the questions—conforms to a classical

Hollywood storytelling model where “[c]ausality is the prime unifying prin-

ciple.” (Bordwell 1986, p. 19) Certainly, the fl ashbacks in Slumdog serve

several functions: they provide suspenseful moments when the audience

waits to learn if Jamal can answer the next question; they simulate a quiz

show experience for viewers who may be trying to fi gure out how a particu-

lar fl ashback will give rise to a correct answer; and they resemble the way

Hindi cinema uses song and dance sequences as “telescoped narratives” that

deepen the emotional texture of the story (Gopal and Moorti, p. 5). How-

ever, the fl ashbacks ultimately present a chronological story of Jamal’s life

without introducing uncertainty or disturbing temporal relations or cause–

effect linkages.

Jamal, his older brother Salim, and his love interest Latika (Freida Pin-

to) are the central characters in this story (although some critics rightly

point to the vital role played by the city of Mumbai itself). Like characters

in classical fi lms, they have defi ned psychological traits, they are goal ori-

ented and they must overcome obstacles to achieve their goals. The story

4.20 The game show in Slumdog Millionaire’s frame story.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 88 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


traces the way that these three in-

dividuals, and especially Jamal, at-

tempt to achieve goals: they seek

to rise above poverty, earn respect

in the rapidly changing social and

economic setting of Mumbai, and

fi nd love and acceptance. Visually,

Boyle depicts the slums as a space

that others move through on their

way to better places: the gangster

Javed drives through in his white

Mercedes as the boys scamper

through the streets to elude the po-

lice. The train passes close by the

slum, but never stops to transport

the slum dwellers to another loca-

tion (fi g. 4.22). This motif helps

to crystallize one of Jamal’s goals:

to escape the slums. In fact, train

travel itself forms a larger motif in

the fi lm, as Jamal and Salim jump

trains to escape their predicament

on several occasions.

As Jamal’s fl ashbacks unfold,

viewers learn that Jamal earned his surprising toughness (which allows him

to withstand torture at the hands of the police) the hard way: as a poor,

Muslim orphan, he is an outsider in his own culture and hence he knows

whose picture graces a $100 bill (given to him by wealthy tourists), but does

not know the phrase on the Indian national seal. He is exploited along with

numerous other children, and his brother betrays him on more than one oc-

casion. In the most dramatic example, in one fl ashback scene, Salim coerces

Latika into a sexual relationship and then abandons Jamal. These fl ashbacks

present the reasons why Jamal has become who he is: they explain why

his goals are to prove himself to be more than merely a “chaiwala” and to

reunite with Latika (who is an avid fan of Who Wants to be A Millionaire?).

The climax of Slumdog Millionaire occurs when Jamal re-establishes con-

tact with Latika (his primary goal) and then takes a guess at the last ques-

tion, upon which rides 20 million rupees. The parallel editing in the scenes

leading up to this suspenseful moment decisively shift the narrative focus

to the story’s present tense and away from the past: time is running out for

Jamal on the television show; time is also running out for Salim, who helps

Latika to engineer her escape from Javed and pays the ultimate price. In the

orchestration of the climax as a time limited event, the fi lm again obeys the

rules of conventional Hollywood storytelling: “That the climax of a classical

fi lm is often a deadline shows the structural power of defi ning dramatic du-

4.21 (above) A wipe in Slumdog Millionaire.

4.22 (below) The slums, where the train never stops—Slumdog Millionaire.

LK6070ºr_P062-090 Ch 04.indd 89 08/11/2010 3:31 PM


ration as the time it takes to achieve or to fail to achieve a goal.” (Bordwell

1986, p. 19)

Furthermore, the climactic moment in this fi lm lays bare the double plot-

lines that have structured the fi lm throughout: the unrequited love between

Jamal and Latika, and Jamal’s struggle to break free of the oppressive cir-

cumstances of his upbringing. This two-pronged approach is also reminis-

cent of classical fi lms, which generally have two related plotlines, one in-

volving heterosexual romance and the other related to work, war, a quest or

mission (Bordwell 1986, p. 19).

Slumdog Millionaire’s narrative provides strong closure, as Jamal moves

from despised slumdog to national hero and wins the love of his life, and

Salim willingly pays for his life of bad choices and criminal behavior. Re-

turning to the earlier comparison with two fi lms that make extensive use

of fl ashbacks, Citizen Kane and Rashômon, reveals that Boyle has made a

conscious choice not to use fl ashbacks to create multiple perspectives or to

leave any ambiguity at the fi lm’s conclusion.

Despite Slumdog Millionaire’s numerous fl ashbacks and its Indian char-

acters, setting, and story depicting a young man’s struggles with dire pov-

erty, Hindu nationalism, and Mumbai globalization, the fi lm’s overall nar-

rative structure adheres to the classical storytelling practices of Hollywood

cinema during the Studio Era and afterward.

Works Cited (in the essay)Bordwell, David. The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 2006.

__________. “Classical Hollywood Cinema: Narrational principles and procedures.”

In Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology, ed. Philip Rosen, pp. 17–34. New York: Columbia

University Press, 1986.

Desai, Radhika. “Imagi Nation: The reconfi guration of national Identity in Bombay Cinema

in the 1990s.” In Once upon a time in Bollywood: the global swing in Hindi cinema, ed. Gurbir

Jolly, Zenia Wadhwani and Deborah Barretto, pp. 43–60. Toronto: TSAR, 2007.

Dwyer, Rachel and Divia Patel. Cinema India: the visual culture of Hindi film. New Brunswick:

Rutgers University Press, 2002.

Flaherty, Mike. “Fox, WB to share Slumdog distribution.” Variety. August 20, 2008.

www.variety.com

Gopal, Sagita and Sujata Moorti. “Introduction: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance.” In

Global Bollywood: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance, eds. Gopal and Moorti, pp. 1–60.

Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.

Kumar, Avitata. “Slumdog’s Bollywood Ancestors.” Vanity Fair. December 23, 2008.

www.vanityfair.com

Mishra, Vijay. Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Nandy, Ashis. “Indian Popular Cinema as a Slum’s Eye View of Politics.” In The Bollywood

Reader, eds. Rajinder Dudrah and Jigna Desai, pp. 73–84. New York: Open University

Press, 2008.

O’ Hehir, Andrew. “Thrill ride through a ‘maximum city’.” Salon.com. Nov 12, 2008.

www.salon.com

Raghavendra, M.K. Seduced by the Familiar: Narration and Meaning in Indian Popular Cinema.

Delhi and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Turim, Maureen. Flashbacks in Film: Memory and History. New York and London:

Routledge, 1989.

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